The alarm lights flashed once—then went still.
Not an emergency alert.
A manual override.
Kaito skidded to a stop at the end of the west corridor, breath tight in his chest. Aria and Ryo caught up seconds later, Mira and Liona's voices crackling through the communicators.
"Movement near the archives," Mira said. "Someone tripped a restricted sensor."
Kaito turned sharply. "That wing's still staffed."
They moved fast.
The archives were quiet when they arrived—too quiet. Rows of shelves stretched into shadow, the air thick with dust and old paper.
A figure stood frozen near a terminal.
A junior archivist.
Hands raised. Pale. Terrified.
"I—I didn't touch anything," the student stammered. "The system unlocked and I panicked, I swear—"
Ryo's hand went to his weapon. "You were alone in a restricted wing during a lockdown."
"I work nights," the archivist cried. "Check my logs—please!"
For a split second, everything lined up too neatly.
Wrong place. Wrong time.
Aria hesitated. "Kaito…"
He didn't move.
Something felt off.
Dex growled—not at the archivist.
Toward the ceiling.
Kaito's head snapped up just as a vent cover slid back into place above the far shelves.
"Down!" Kaito shouted.
A stun charge detonated harmlessly against the wall as they dove aside. Papers exploded into the air, alarms finally screaming to life.
Mira's voice cut through the chaos. "Movement—upper level, sprinting!"
Kaito turned just in time to see a shadow vault over the railing, hitting the floor in a roll and bolting for the emergency exits.
Not the archivist.
"Ryo, with me!" Kaito took off, pain flaring but ignored.
They chased the figure through service halls, past startled staff and students, doors slamming open and shut. The intruder moved like they knew the academy by heart.
Because they did.
The exit gates loomed ahead.
The figure threw something behind them—smoke burst outward, stinging eyes, burning lungs.
Kaito burst through anyway.
Too late.
The outer doors slammed shut just as the shadow leapt the final railing, disappearing into the night beyond the academy walls.
Silence followed.
Alarms wailed.
Kaito stood there, chest heaving, fists clenched.
Aria arrived moments later, looking between him and the open night. "They got away."
"Yes," Kaito said quietly. "But not cleanly."
He turned back toward the archives.
The archivist sat shaking on the floor, unharmed, staring at the chaos around them.
Kaito knelt in front of him. "You're not in trouble," he said firmly. "Someone used you as cover."
The student nodded frantically, tears streaking their face. "I—I knew something was wrong when the doors opened."
Outside, somewhere beyond the walls, a figure didn't stop running.
Because the academy had almost named the wrong enemy.
And next time, the villain wouldn't rely on almost.